Postal Briefing

APWU Discourages Members From Participating in ‘Align Networks’

2012-01-27T12:41:00.000-06:00

USPS Partners With Align Networks

"... (01/26/12) The Postal Service has notified [PDF] the APWU that it has established a relationship with Align Networks to provide physical therapy services for employees with work related injuries and illnesses. APWU strongly discourages member participation. ..."

Reference: www.apwu.org

USPS Greater South Carolina District is now hiring

2012-01-25T09:18:00.000-06:00

USPS announces job openings in Upstate

"... The job titles and their salaries are: postmaster relief (PMR), $9.50 hour; postal support employee (PSE) $14.60 hour; rural carrier associate (RCA) $19.45 hour; transitional employee (TE) $22.15 hour; and temporary rural carrier (TRC) $11.55 hr. ..."

Reference: www.greenvilleonline.com

Postal Service relied on questionable data in processing plant and post office closure process

2012-01-22T09:01:00.000-06:00

Postal Service’s closure review process was flawed, panel says

"... Under pressure from Congress, the Postal Service earlier this month agreed to delay the proposed closures and consolidations until the spring in hopes that pending legislation to shore up the agency’s finances will pass. ..."

Reference: www.washingtonpost.com

Postal Employees have the right to publicly speak out against closures

2012-01-21T10:48:00.000-06:00

Postal Workers Have the Right To Speak Out Against Facility Closures

"... A one-page list linked to the LiteBlue posting outlines permissible and prohibited activities under the Anti-Lobbying Act, but neglects to mention that activities listed as “impermissible” are impermissible only if they are done on postal time or using postal funds or facilities. They do not apply to activities conducted off-the-clock and outside postal facilities.

The LiteBlue posting also mentions a prohibition on the disclosure of non-public postal information. Postal employees who have access to non-public information may not reveal it to unauthorized individuals.

Once again, however, this restriction is irrelevant to opposition to postal closures. Our activities rely on non-restricted public information. If the union believes that restricted or non-public information is relevant and necessary, the APWU can officially request access to such information. ..."

Reference: www.apwu.org

USPS declines to extend contract negotiations with unions

2012-01-21T02:38:00.000-06:00

USPS calls in the mediators for union negotiations

"... USPS wants to make use of more part-time and flexible full-time workers, and end lay-off protections for its workers as it seeks to reduce its overall workforce from around 570,000 towards 400,000 over the next few years. ..."

Reference: postandparcel.info

Postal Service no longer offers next-day delivery of first-class mail?

2012-01-19T13:08:00.000-06:00

USPS changes to slow bill payments

"... When the U.S. Postal Service no longer offers next-day delivery of first-class mail — a change likely in May ..."

Reference: The Postal Newsgroup

Should You Fear USPS Campaign For Voluntary Transfers to Letter Carrier

2012-01-18T00:55:00.000-06:00

Beware of Risks in USPS Campaign For Voluntary Transfers to Letter Carrier

"... The Postal Service is planning workforce changes with the goal of eliminating tens of thousands of Letter Carrier positions. ..."

Reference: www.apwu.org

City letter carrier craft awareness campaign regarding bargaining unit reassignment opportunities

2012-01-17T16:45:00.000-06:00

USPS to start campaign encouraging Postal Employees to become Letter Carriers

"... As a matter of general interest, the Postal Service will initiate an awareness campaign regarding bargaining unit reassignment opportunities to the city letter carrier craft. The program is intended to provide career clerk, mail handler, maintenance, and motor vehicle craft employees with information on volunteer reassignment opportunities to the city carrier craft. ..."

Reference: www.postalreporternews.net

Is the Postal Service ignoring community

2012-01-17T10:35:00.000-06:00

GUEST VIEWPOINT: Postal Service is cost-cutting itself to death

"... the Postal Service makes a decision and then seeks out supporting arguments while ignoring dissenting opinions. That’s clearly apparent in the current proposals to close postal facilities and degrade service in an effort to cut costs. ..."

Reference: www.registerguard.com

Verizon gets $168M for private Internet protocol network

2012-01-11T23:18:00.000-06:00

USPS awards $168M communications contract to Verizon

"... The Virginia-based company will receive $168 million over six years to build and manage a private Internet protocol network through which the agency will communicate with employees and keep tabs on operations. ..."

Reference: www.federalnewsradio.com

Aquilent contract to support USPS.com

2012-01-10T00:20:00.000-06:00

Aquilent Awarded Contract to Support USPS.com Daily Operations

"... The USPS operates a corporate website, www.usps.com , as its primary internet channel. USPS.com provides consumers and businesses with 24-hour access to Postal Service products, services, and information. ..."

Reference: www.marketwatch.com

Postal consolidation plan not working; used fuzzy data

2012-01-08T13:36:00.000-06:00

Postal Service's plan to close post offices hits roadbumps

"... "The estimates we were able to get on cost savings from the proposal ranged from $100 million to $200 million," Goldway said. "When you're talking about losing billions of dollars, $100 million is not worth fighting about." ..."

Reference: www.federalnewsradio.com

Letter: Breaking union contracts not the answer

2012-01-02T13:03:00.000-06:00

Firing postal workers is not solution

"... In the jobs I had without union support, the management would treat their employees as they pleased without regard to seniority or the employees ability to do their job. I’ve seen employees fired simply because their boss did not like them...."

Reference: www.natchezdemocrat.com

USPS closure process flawed says PRC

2011-12-31T09:57:00.000-06:00

Postal Service’s closure review process was flawed, panel says

"... Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said the report supports “my and many of my colleagues’ skepticism about the wisdom of mass postal closures without a more thoughtful, transparent and data-driven process.” ..."

Reference: www.washingtonpost.com

Postal Properties for Sale - The new Postal Service

2011-12-26T19:39:00.000-06:00

Postal Properties for Sale

The Postal Service is listing properties for sale. Let's see if they are any better at real estate sales than the current decline in service.

Reference: www.uspspropertiesforsale.com

Postal cuts damaging self-employed

2011-12-24T00:14:00.000-06:00

Postal Service Cuts Worry Kitchen-Table Entrepreneurs

"... Business owners who will perhaps be hurt most if the cutbacks planned for next May actually take place are the 21 million-plus “nonemployer firms.” That’s the term the Census Bureau uses to define the self-employed, sole proprietors who account for nearly three-quarters of all U.S. businesses ..."

Reference: www.businessweek.com

Delivery Driver Throws Flat Screen TV (Video)

2011-12-21T00:34:00.000-06:00

Delivery Driver Throws Flat Screen TV

"...Which delivery service do you use? ..."

Reference: tv.yahoo.com

Bill would cut take-home pay for postal and federal workers

2011-12-20T08:40:00.000-06:00

House Republicans Attack
Postal and Federal Retirement Benefits

"... The bill was introduced by Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), and co-sponsored by Reps. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Frank Lucas (R-OK), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Fred Upton (R-MI). The bill also would change the calculation of pensions for new hires with less than five years of creditable service and eliminate the FERS annuity supplement ..."

Reference: www.apwu.org

Huntsville community outraged over mail processing plant closure possibility

2011-12-17T01:48:00.000-06:00

Huntsville mail processing center may relocate to Birmingham

"... "A possible delay, but we are asking our customers to put something in the mail a day or two earlier. If you're sending a card to your grandma, mail it earlier," said Postal Service spokesperson Debra Fetterly. ..."

Reference: www.waff.com

USPS cuts drive business to private companies

2011-12-13T09:10:00.000-06:00

US Postal Service cutbacks could spur shift to UPS, FedEx

"... the federal agency is closing 252 of 461 processing centers, making it nearly impossible to deliver first-class mail overnight. Delivery of letters is expected to take two to three days, periodicals, two to nine days. ..."

Reference: www.santacruzsentinel.com

Postal Service Delivery Continues to Slow

2011-12-10T10:29:00.000-06:00

USPS Cuts First-Class Mail Delivery

"... The overall impact on service remains to be seen, as critical entry times will also be changing, which may present printing and transportation challenges for weekly publications." ..."

Reference: www.foliomag.com

privatizing the postal system piece by piece

2011-12-09T21:01:00.000-06:00

As USPS Cuts Loom, Business Owners Brace Themselves

"... "They're privatizing the postal system piece by piece through outsourcing and downsizing, selling off assets, closing down post offices and driving business to private mail companies" says Steve Hutkins, a professor at New York University. ..."

Reference: www.huffingtonpost.com

USPS to study closing mail facility in major growth technology area of Huntsville, Alabama

2011-12-03T09:16:00.000-06:00

Public hearing set on plans to close Huntsville mail facility

"... There will be a public hearing Dec. 14 at Decatur Utilities on the proposal. It will be from 7 to 9 p.m. A summary of the proposal and presentation materials will be made available on usps.com one week before the meeting date. "Public input is a very important part of the study ..."

Reference: al.com

Feasibility of doing away with first class overnight mail

2011-12-01T00:18:00.000-06:00

Residents react to postal service study

"... A study is underway throughout the United States Postal Service to assess the feasibility of doing away with first class overnight mail and centralizing mail processing facilities...."

Reference: www.greenriverstar.com

New domestic retail pricing for Priority Mail Flat Rate products

2011-11-29T00:51:00.000-06:00

USPS Shipping Rates Rise An Average Of 4.6%

"... New in 2012 is Package Intercept for commercial mailers, available through a customer interface on Business Customer Gateway. ..."

Reference: multichannelmerchant.com